Did they get back together? I'm totally bewildered.. must not have paid attention the first time because I don't remember it ending that way and I hate ambiguous endings. Or was it not really ambiguous? Thoughts are welcomed..
When they were having dinner or whatever it was, Carol asked Therese if she wanted to live with her. Therese said no. Then Carol said that if she changed her mind, she was going to be at this other restaurant (can't remember the name now...)
But then Therese goes to this restaurant, which I take it to mean that she did change her mind, she wanted to live with Carol.
"...she was going to be at this other restaurant (can't remember the name now...)"
The name is very important.
It was the Oak Room in the film and the Elysée in the book. Oak is a symbol of strength; Elysée means blissful -- Elysium (Elysian Fields) was heavenly paradise of the classical Greeks. Both are very strong figurative indicators that Carol and Therese will have a bright future together.
Celebrating 100 Years of DADA * Feb. 5, 1916 * Zurich
Oak is a symbol of strength; Elysée means blissful -- Elysium (Elysian Fields) was heavenly paradise of the classical Greeks.
There is nothing interpretive or symbolic about the name of the restaurant in the book and in the movie.
At the time The Price of Salt was written the Hotel Elysée was a famous (and still is) New York City hotel with a popular lounge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Elysée.
In Patricia Highsmith's lifetime both hotels and their lounges were places for New Yorkers to meet for business reasons (such as an agent and writer), drink/eat before or after an event, or just to impress someone.
Phyllis Nagy chose a more classy setting than the book's. That's it.
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Anything that can be interpreted as a sign is a sign. Todd Haynes is a semiotician. Nothing in his films is random. His attention to detail is amazing. That said, sometimes you can find meaning in something unintentional. We find stuff that means something to us….it’s in our nature.
Why change the name from the Elysee to the Oak Room? Why?
Authors do it as well. Whether Highsmith did this intentionally….who knows.
So to say that there is nothing interpretive in the name of the restaurant is short sighted. I hadn’t really considered it before because the Oak Room is famous, but NeedysBoy may be onto something.
Phyllis Nagy -- the screenwriter -- changed the location. Not Todd Haynes. And if either one had to choose between the location in the book vs. something higher-class, they would both go for the higher-class setting.
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Films are not reality. They are artistic constructs. Filmmakers can do whatever they want to tell the story. They play on our collective subconscious, as well as our personal subconscious. We may gloss over the details and just enjoy the movie, or we (maybe upon further viewings) see a deeper meaning. Some directors fill their scenes with props that just give a sense of reality. Others create deeper meaning that accentuate the themes of the film. Todd Haynes does this.
Sooo……nope. not advocating schizophrenia, just acknowledging that people can find meaning in anything. If you don’t find meaning in something, doesn’t mean that others don’t. Some stuff will resonate with me, and not you. And vice versa.
I think Phyllis Nagy put together a nice, tight script. I also think Haynes’ prints are all over it. It’s very collaborative. It’s great.
“Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign.” –Charles Pierce.
In the Renaissance, the heroic population of the Elysian Fields tended to outshine its formerly dreary pagan reputation; the Elysian Fields borrowed some of the bright allure of paradise.
Now, the writers could have selected any names for the restaurants in the book and the film, but they selected these names; names that have had strong cultural influence for centuries. One can see why the writers have stellar reputations: each detail in their work has meaning.
That is true Symbolism, where the more particular represents the more general, not as a dream or a shade, but as a vivid, instantaneous revelation of the Inscrutable. --Goethe
Celebrating 100 Years of DADA * Feb. 5, 1916 * Zurich
The tea scene is one of my favorite scenes. Watching Teresa go from standoffish to panic was beautifully portrayed by Rooney.
Noticed at the beginning, Teresa didn't want have anything to do with Carol. Until the moment when Carol said, "I love you". Something neither one of them said to each other before. That's where the dynamic of their relationship changed, and you know that Teresa waited to get back together with Carol.